Nigerian officials say they’re going ahead with a new $3.5bn port on the Bakassi peninsula, in the extreme south-east of country, local media reports.

It was officially approved in 2019 but work was delayed until financing could be found.

The issue was resolved in May this year when Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank agreed to lend the full cost of the scheme.

Nigeria’s minister for the marine economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, endorsed the scheme at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Cross River State Government in Calabar.

The country’s Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission said work could start after meeting with stakeholders.

The commission’s director-general, Jobson Ewalefoh, said: “With the commitment we’ve seen from Governor Otu of Cross River State and the support of stakeholders such as the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, and other involved parties, we are confident that the Bakassi Deep Seaport will be completed in record time.”

Supersized ships

The port, near the city of Calabar, will be 20m deep to accommodate the supersized container ships used by the world’s main carriers.

It will handle containers, petroleum products and vehicles, and will serve as a logistical base for the regional oil and gas sector.

It’s also intended to be a transhipment hub for West Africa for farm products, industrial commodities and natural resources.

If it goes ahead, it could ease pressure on the Lagos port complex and develop Nigeria’s Eastern Corridor.

The corridor is based on the reconstruction of a 1,000km railway between Port Harcourt, about 40km west of Calabar, and Maiduguri, near the Chad border.

This project has been held up by China’s doubts about its viability. It is nevertheless going ahead, and a 20km-section between Port Harcourt and Aba is partially operational.